Miami Heat Owner Believes Team Lost Money This Season

Over the past week, we’ve begun to see how the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement is affecting teams from a personnel standpoint. But what about the business side? Does the new CBA give owners the opportunity to turn a profit? And when it comes to owning an NBA team, is turning a profit even the goal? Miami Heat owner Micky Arison has some thoughts, via CNBC.com: “Arison told CNBC that the final numbers aren’t in yet, but his guess is that the team lost money again. ‘This is a hobby of passion, it’s not a business,’ said Arison, the CEO of Carnival Cruise Lines who took control of the team in 1995. ‘Every year in the building we’ve lost money aside from last year, under the old Collective Bargaining Agreement, because of LeBron.’ The Heat have been playing in American Airlines Arena for 12 seasons. They also haven’t ever paid rent thanks to loopholes in the agreement with Miami-Dade County including a clause that allows the team to pay itself back for its contributions to the arena’s cost before sharing the wealth. So how does Arison explain how the team might have lost money after selling out its second straight season and 13 home playoff games? ‘With the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, it works against us because of the dollars we had under contract already and the revenue sharing,’ Arison said.”